Prakriti Dance's production on Shikhandi

Four years ago, when Bharatanatyam dancer Keerthana Ravi made Mumbai her home, she came across a strange dichotomy. While there was no dearth of artistes trained in Indian classical dance forms in the city, the number of platforms available to them to showcase their talent was disproportionately low. "I hail from Bengaluru, where there is a strong tradition of patronage for Indian classical dance forms. However, in Mumbai, such performances largely saw friends and family of the dancers in the audience," says Keerthana, who then decided to do something about it and started Rasa Bodhi Arts foundation to propagate the Indian arts through collaborations, events and workshops, and Evam, a classical dance festival.